Sweet Potato and Sausage Soup

When I first started this blog, my main goal was to really critique ideas found on Pinterest. I've seen so many pictures of Pinterest fails. Every project or recipe I've tried has so far worked (or tasted) great. So about ten months ago, while searching for some new recipes to try, I came across this Sweet Potato and Sausage Soup recipe from Martha Stewart. I thought to myself, "Hunh. Not too sure that sounds good, but I do happen to have all the ingredients in my kitchen." I mentioned trying it out to the Woodman. He didn't seem too thrilled about trying it either. Score, I thought! I'd have my first negative project to write about. I made it, we tried it, and....CRAP. WE LOVED IT!!! It even got a 4 year old's seal of approval. The sweet potatoes kind of scared me in this recipe (I love sweet potatoes, but seriously? Boiled in soup???) Holy cow....they were so savory. They melt in your mouth and blend perfectly with all the other flavors.

Fast forward to several days ago. I'm scouring my recipe board trying to come up with meals for the week. I was excited because it was super cold out and that only meant one thing....SOUP WEATHER! The sweet potato soup popped up, thank goodness, because I had completely forgotten about it. I dashed hobbled into the kitchen (broken ankle...read my last post), grabbed a recipe card, and wrote that sucker down. It takes a super special recipe for me to actually take the time to write it down. And now, it's time for you to write it down....  :)

Sweet Potato and Sausage Soup

Prep time- 20 minutes

Cook time- 20-30 minutes

Ingredients-

• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 large, yellow onion (diced)
• 2 cloves garlic (minced)
• salt and pepper
• 3/4 lb. sweet Italian sausage with casings removed (or hot Italian sausage if you want to kick up the flavor!)
• 2 sweet potatoes (peeled, diced into medium chunks, 1 lb. total)
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 3/4 cups small pasta shells
• 4 cups roughly chopped mixed greens, such as kale and Swiss chard (I just used kale)
• Parmesan cheese for topping

Directions-

Gather up all your ingredients. I have some lovely, homemade chicken broth stored in my basement, but I forgot to have the hubby get it before he left for work this morning (stupid broken ankle...ginormous Aircast boot and narrow stairs do not mix well). I used Better Than Bouillon Chicken Base instead and added it to 4 cups of water for my broth. 

 Add 1 Tbsp. olive oil to a pot and heat over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until the onion is translucent (about 6 minutes). Season with salt and pepper.

 Add sausage and cook until it is brown.

Add sweet potatoes, 4 cups chicken broth, and 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil. 

Add pasta and cook 3 minutes less than what is indicated in the instructions on the package. (Can't have gluten? Skip this ingredient or add gluten free pasta!)

 Add the greens, reduce heat, and cook until the noodles are done and the greens are wilted (about 3-4 minutes). Dish up and top with Parmesan cheese, if desired.

Peanut approved! So thankful that I have an adventurous eater! (Please excuse the kale hanging out of his mouth!)

Give this recipe a shot and let me know what you think. I hope you enjoy!

Making Apple Butter, or My House Smells Like What I Imagine Heaven Will Smell Like

It's autumn and here in the North Georgia area, that means it is apple season! I always enjoy heading up to the North Georgia mountains in mid October to visit Burt's Pumpkin Farm, peep at some pretty leaves (the last two years we have done this by hiking at Amicalola Falls with Peanut), and hit up the apple house. This year I haven't been able to do any of these things. At the tail end of a family vacation to Disney World in mid-September, and I mean literally the tail end of the vacation because we had already checked out of our hotel and were about to head home, I slipped, fell, and broke my right ankle. I could have gotten a shirt, but no, I decided to go all out and get myself a trip to two of Orlando's hospitals for a couple of extra nights, two ambulance rides, emergency-ish surgery, and a pin and a couple of bolts in my leg. Next time I'll just get the shirt. It has taken me about a month to actually start to feel like a normal person. I'm hobbling around in an Aircast boot now, but still have to rely heavily on people to drive me around anywhere. ***fingers crossed the doctor will clear me to drive at my next appointment*** So, there have been no trips up to the North GA mountains to do all my fall activities that I look forward to every year. 

Last week, my mom was coming up to take me to one of my physical therapy appointments. Because the appointment was later in the day, I asked her to drive me up to one of the apple houses along Hwy 575, almost to Ellijay. I was able to see some pretty leaves, get some apples for baking, and some fried apple pies. Yummo! I had it in my mind to make apple butter. I've always loved apple butter but it's usually so darn expensive to buy at the store. I looked around on Pinterest to find the easiest and cheapest apple butter recipe and this is what I've come up with. It has received the Peanut stamp of approval, so it's a keeper. The first time I used this recipe, it ended up only making four half pint jars of apple butter. I just finished a second batch using the same recipe and got six half pint jars. Not quite sure of the difference....maybe I didn't let the apple butter cook down long enough. Oh well, it's still delicious! 

I started out by cleaning all my jars, lids, and rings so that I could can my apple butter once it was finished. I'm sure you could freeze apple butter, since you can freeze apple sauce...but you might want to research that first.

Gather up 6 lbs. of apples. From everything I read, it really doesn't matter what type of apple you use. I ended up using Golden Delicious. Because they are sweeter to start with, you don't have to add as much sugar later on!

Peel, core, and slice your apples. You can do this any way you like. My mom bought me one of these handy, dandy, apple peeler, corer, slicer thing and IT. IS. WORTH. THE. COST. I was able to prep the apples in about 10 minutes, once I figured out how the contraption worked. 

Apple peeler, corer, slicer thing in action. It makes Slinky Apples!!!

Fill your crock pot full of your apple slices. I have either a 4 or 5 qt. crock pot. You want the apples all the way up to the top because they will cook down a lot. In a bowl, mix up 1-2 cups of sugar (I only used one), a tsp. of cinnamon, a 1/4 tsp. of salt, and a 1/4 tsp. of ground cloves. I only had whole cloves, so I used my mortar and pestle to ground up the whole cloves. 

Pour the sugar mixture over the top of the apples. Cover and cook on high for about an hour. Give the apples a good stir, turn the crock pot down on low, put the lid back on slightly ajar, and then go to bed! Let it cook overnight (at least 8 hours). Leaving the lid ajar will help some of the liquid to evaporate and will help to thicken the apple butter. 

 The next morning, stir and mash your apples up. I ended up running mine through the food processor to get them to the right consistency. At this point, I canned my apple butter. I used my water bath canner, filled hot jars (leave 1/4" headspace), removed air bubbles, wiped the rims clean, and then processed the jars for 10 minutes. ***Check your altitude for processing times

While the cans were processing, I had to have a taste test of some extra apple butter that wouldn't fill a whole jar. It was so much better tasting than mass produced, store bought apple butter! 

Two batches of apple butter all ready to be eaten!!!

Apple Butter Recipe

Ingredients

• 6 lbs. apples
• 1-2 cups of sugar (to taste)
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground cloves

Procedure

1. Peel, core, and slice apples. Put into your crock pot.
2. In a bowl, mix together sugar, cinnamon, salt, and cloves. Pour over the top of the apples.
3. Cover and cook on high for one hour. 
4. Stir apples, reduce heat to low, and put lid back onto crock pot, slightly ajar.
5. Cook overnight, for at least 8 hours.
6. Mash your apples up into an apple butter consistency. You can let your apple butter cook longer now until it has reached your preference of consistency.
7. Following standard canning procedures, can your apple butter. Leave 1/4" headspace. Processing times are dependent on size of jars and the altitude of where you live. 

Enjoy!!!